Makin' It From Scratch #4 - Personal Care

I know there are a ton of things you can make from scratch for personal care like lotions and soaps, etc., but I picked out 3 things that I thought were a little on the uncommon side that you might not have considered making for yourself before. I haven't tried any of these yet, but deodorant is on the top of my list because I've already saved the empty deodorant tubes.

1) Hand Sanitizer

Mix one cup of aloe vera (the plain stuff with nothing added to it if you can find it), one half cup of isopropyl alcohol, and a drop or two of an essential oil you like. Mix well, put it in a pump bottle, and you have a much cheaper alternative to Purell that’s basically the exact same thing.

2) Toothpaste

Just mix half a cup of baking soda, a tiny dash of salt, 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide, one drop of peppermint oil if you like it minty, and just a bit of stevia to make it sweet – stevia can be found at most health food stores – and just mix it into a paste.

(The hand sanitizer and toothpaste recipes come from The Simple Dollar blog.)

3) Deodorant

This is copied and pasted from Christine's blog of Hyde's Handmade Soaps.

1/4 c. baking soda
1/4 c. cornstarch
10 drops tea tree oil (it's cleansing)

you can just use that in a powder

or add 2 + Tab. of coconut oil for a stick
( I melted my coconut oil in the microwave)

Mix it all together and smash it in to an old deodorant container.
Coconut oil is hard at room temperature so you can let it sit and it will firm up
or I put mine in the freezer for a few minutes to make it hard.
If you don't live somewhere hot you can keep it in your bathroom. If you have a problem with it being to soft keep it in the refrigerator.
I hear you can use lavender oil as well.

All of these recipes sound simple and seem like good replacements. I'm not sure how the deodorant works in humid states, but it seems to work in a hot western state. I'm excited to try it out!

Have fun!